Here Beside You
by opalheart12
Summary: Rhea comes to Barry for help with her best friend. Things start to get complicated when Rhea begins to get caught up in the world of metahumans. Will she be able to figure out what her place is in this new world of superpowers?


_**A/N: This is my first time making a fic for The Flash. I found this on my computer from a couple months ago and decided it was finally time to put it out there. I own nothing. Onward.**_

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She was sleeping. She was trying to sleep. But, all she'd achieved in the last two hours was that she'd managed to count half of the imaginary spots on the ceiling in the tiny room she called home. She was waiting for a sign from him. She was worried about him.

He was there suddenly, quiet as one could expect him to be. He looked like shit. Blood dry and wet decorated his face and his usually bright green eyes now seemed dull and weary. He collapsed on the bed, practically crushing her feet in the process. She tried to pull them out from under him and succeeded just barely.

"What happened?" She asked breathlessly as she looked down at him.

"The usual. I left before it could get any worse. I can't go back there, Rhea. He'll kill me." His breath seemed labored, and now she was worried something might be really wrong.

"I could take you to Jonah. He'd know what to do."

"Jonah's in Greece for the summer with his family so that won't do." He sounded just as disappointed at that as Rhea felt.

"Well, then, you're here for the night then. Lea will understand. She won't put you out any time soon."

Gabe couldn't find the strength to reply. His entire body hurt and he was heavy with exhaustion and sadness. But he had Rhea, and maybe that was all he needed. For once, he actually hoped he would wake up in the morning.

He slept through the night and well into the morning. It was nearly 8am when Rhea left him tucked in with medicine and water next to the bed. The small home she and Lea shared was quiet, meaning Lea was either asleep or wasn't home yet. Rhea scribbled out a note, warning her that Gabe was here and he might not be leaving anytime soon. She promised to try be back in the afternoon.

Despite the time, it still appeared to be very dark outside. The smell of imminent rain hung in the air and thunder rumbled overhead. The wind picked up around her as she walked briskly through the ramshackle neighborhood that was Arbor Hills. There were no arbors or hills to speak of, hinting at the name's wishful thinking.

She found herself at the train station, abandoning her troubles back in Falconer Walk. She stared out of the window, watching the world outside zoom by. She needed to see someone that might be able to help Gabe. Jonah knew about them but Gabe didn't. For now, she wanted to keep it that way.

Thirty minutes later, Rhea was walking up to the front door of a two story brown house that probably could fit her and Lea's quaint little home inside twice. She knocked, hoping Barry was home.

The door opened revealing a disheveled Barry Allen looking puzzled to see Rhea Alton on his doorstep.

"Hi, Barry. Jonah Kostopoulos told me about you. I guess he knows Cisco and he said if something ever happened to Gabe to come to you." She tried to recite from memory what Jonah told her before he left.

Barry relaxed slightly and now looked more awake now. "Cisco and Jonah go way back. I know him. But, why would he tell you to come find _me_?"

Rhea didn't want to overstep or make Barry uncomfortable, so she settled for sitting on the swing bench on the covered porch. "What I'm going to tell you...it's going to sound crazy. I could hardly believe it myself but Gabe has no one he can turn to."

Barry sat down next to her and gave her an encouraging smile. It made her feel relaxed and a little less worried.

"Gabe...he's different. Ever since the accident with that accelerator thing, he's different. It's gonna sound weird, but Gabe can teleport."

At this, Barry's eyes lit up with curiosity and slight worry. If a stranger, this Rhea girl, was coming to him for help, something must be wrong with this Gabe person she was trying to save.

"His stepdad is an asshole. He drinks and gets high and...and he beats him." Her voice cracked just saying it, and some part of her felt like she was betraying Gabe for telling a stranger about his personal life. "I know what you're thinking. If he can teleport, why can't he get away from his step dad? This thing...this _gift_ he has, it's spotty. It only works every now and then, only when his life is in real danger. There have been plenty of other times where he got beat up but this time...this time it was bad."

Barry reached out, offering his hand for support. She took it and held on as she looked away, trying her best to hide the fact that she was crying. She took a deep breath and used her free hand to wipe her face.

"Gabe's special. Only Jonah and I know about his...gift. If Jonah told me to come to you, then you must have some kind of experience with this. You must know people that can help him get better."

The wind picked up and thunder rumbled once more, louder, as if threatening to destroy anyone who'd had the balls to still be outside instead of seeking shelter. Rhea's dark brown eyes glowed with hopefulness and urgency. She cared about Gabe quite a lot, if that look was anything to go by.

Barry smiled and hugged her. "I can help. What's your address?"

"5120 Lake Forest Drive. Why?"

Suddenly the world was a blur and Rhea felt the most intense bout of dizziness she'd ever experienced in her life. She closed her eyes against the unpleasant feeling, opening them once more and screaming. She'd expected to still be on the porch of Barry Allen's house. She hadn't expected to be back in her tiny shoebox of a room with Barry Allen grinning at her and an unconscious Gabe occupying her bed.

"You're The Flash." Rhea said as she recovered and went to sit next to Gabe. "Well, that explains a lot."

She ran her hands through Gabe's hair in an effort to get it out of his face. She fussed at the blanket, torn between tucking him in and not, since she needed Barry's help.

"Yep, that's me. Barry Allen: The Flash." He replied with a nervous chuckle. Despite the fact that her head was now hurting, she returned it with a smile.

Silence stretched between them as Rhea retrieved a bowl of warm water and a towel to try to clean up Gabe's face. He slept soundly, not moving an inch, and Rhea briefly wondered if he might be dead.

"He can't stay here. There's nothing I can do for him here and he's hurt real bad. He hates hospitals." Rhea spoke after a while. She moved the bowl to the nightstand and wiped her hands on her jeans.

"I can take him to S.T.A.R Labs. Caitlin can help. Cisco's there too, if you want to meet him." Barry offered, looking like he was readying himself to scoop up Gabe. "We kind of specialize in helping metahumans."

" _Meta_ humans? You mean people like you and Gabe?"

Just then, Barry's phone rang and Gabe fidgeted slightly in his sleep. Rhea began peeling the blankets off of him and trying to pull him into a semi-upright position.

"I'll be there in a bit. Tell Caitlin to prepare the bed and equipment. We're having a few visitors."

Rhea wrote another note to Lea explaining where she was and not to worry. Lea knew about Gabe's home situation and it wasn't that uncommon for Lea to find Gabe sleeping on the sofa or in Rhea's room. As much as she went on and on about him being there, Rhea knew deep down that Lea would never put him out.

They drove this time. Rhea was afraid that Barry zipping through the city with her injured friend might not be the best thing, and he seemed to agree.

It was nearly 4pm when they arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs and Rhea felt exhaustion creeping up on her. She forced it aside as she hoisted her overnight bag across her shoulders. Gabe was taken immediately to be checked out and Barry steered her toward a shower area down the hall.

"We pull late hours most nights. It isn't uncommon for at least one of us to spend the night." He said as he stopped outside the room. "Whenever you're done, I'll take you to see Gabe." He gave her a reassuring smile, seeing the worry in her eyes.

Rhea nodded, giving him a grateful smile, before going into the room. The hot shower did nothing to cure her of her exhaustion. She felt heavy and tired but she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until she knew Gabe was alright. She tied up her thick, curly hair into a bun and stuck her hands in the pocket of the Central City University sweatshirt Jonah got for her birthday a few months back. She was thankful she'd packed some jogging pants and thick socks. The lab was positively freezing.

Barry led her back to the med area where Gabe was still unconscious with multiple machines hooked up to him. Someone had been thoughtful enough to push another bed near his and it was piled with blankets and pillows.

"Where's Cisco?" She asked as she settled down on the bed. Barry set about helping her spread out the blankets.

"He went out to go get food. Hope you don't mind lo mein and orange chicken. Caitlin went to go check on medicine for Gabe. Looks like it's just us for a while."

Silence stretched between them again. Rhea didn't know Barry at all, but he seemed like a sweet guy so far. He'd agreed to help Gabe and that made him fine in her book. But what exactly did one say to The Flash? She wasn't starstruck exactly, but she also wasn't sure what to say.

"So, what do you do when you aren't taking care of Gabe?" He was trying to keep up conversation and she appreciated that.

Rhea sat back, pulling a pillow in front of her to hug like she did when she was talking to the boys. "I go to Central City University. I'm about to be a junior, but my credits have me ahead a little so that after this semester I'll technically be a senior. I'm majoring in Linguistics."

Barry looked impressed and...proud. He didn't have that look of disbelief the way some other people tended to when she told them that. "What do you want to do?"

A smile came to her face immediately as she looked over at Gabe. "Gabe is 3 years younger than Jonah and I, but we all became friends on the playground at school when we were younger. Gabe was kind of like the little brother your parents told you to take with you everywhere. He became our little brother. When I met Jonah, his mother was yelling at him in Greek and I couldn't understand a word of it, but I wanted to. It was fascinating. I guess it kind of made me realize the world is a bigger place than just Central City."

Barry nodded in understanding. "So you want to work as, what, a translator?"

"Yes, probably for some government agency. A.R.G.U.S maybe. They were recruiting Jonah almost as soon as we graduated high school for chem engineering. We made a promise that wherever he went, Gabe and I would try not to be too far behind."

Just then the doors of the lab opened and Cisco entered, trying his best to balance 4 plates of Chinese takeout and a bag of bottled water. He sat them down on the desk and, thanks to Barry, Rhea's food was in her lap almost instantly. Cisco turned to her with that huge smile of his and ran to hug her.

"You must be Rhea. I swear Jonah talks about you all the time. It's insane that we've never met before. I'm Cisco. But I guess Barry told you that? Or Jonah?" He was rambling and Rhea watched him with a playful smile.

"I'm Rhea. It's nice to finally meet Jonah's Genius Bro from his apartments. I've heard nothing but good things." She twirled noodles around her fork before shoving a huge pile into her mouth. She'd done enough talking and she needed a bit of a break.

"How do you and Jonah know each other?" Barry asked as he pulled up a chair and starting preparing his food.

"Neighbors. He lives next door to me. We actually met the day he was moving in. His mother was fussing over something in Greek, and let me tell you that woman's voice can carry. I thought an argument was happening so I came out to see what was going on. The rest, as they say, is history." He finished with a huge smile and dug into his food.

This time, the silence was comfortable more than it was awkward. As they ate their food, Gabe continued to sleep, his chest rising and falling every two seconds. He looked more peaceful than Rhea could ever remember and she wanted to cry just looking at him.

"Does this happen often?" Cisco asked, with the look of a small child who was hoping they hadn't said anything offensive.

Rhea sighed as she closed the container. "His dad took off before he was even born. He's never met him but he sends a check every month. His mom works three jobs so she's never home. She married Paul when Gabe was in 8th grade. He used to own some business but it went belly-up. Lucy had to work more to make sure they didn't lose the house and Paul just drank away his savings."

Cisco looked upset and guilty, like he wished he hadn't asked. Rhea gave him a reassuring look and he looked away.

"Most of the money Gabe's bio dad sends, Paul takes and spends it on drugs or whatever else. Never gives a cent to Lucy. Gabe doesn't have it in him to use any for himself so he gives it to Lucy when he has the chance."

The room was filled with the sounds of the machine, and Gabe's steady heart rate. It was comforting to Rhea to know that he was still alive.

"Does she know?" Barry asked finally, his eyes hard and angry.

She didn't answer at first as she tried to think of that answer herself. "I don't think she does. She's not there enough to know." Rhea wasn't sure she blamed Lucy exactly for Gabe continuing to be abused by Paul, but it was hard to respect her. She figured some part of her had to know something was wrong.

She got under the blankets and pushed her pillow so that she was closer to him. She felt like a parent as she looked at him and was instantly bombarded of a young, toothless Gabriel asking if he could play with them. Tears stung at her eyes as she ran her hands through his hair.

"He's such a nice kid. Doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I don't understand how someone could ever want to hurt him." She was trying not to openly cry in front of Barry since she hated crying in front of people she didn't know very well.

She heard him sigh and when she looked at him, his face was in his hands. "We can take care of Paul the legal way or the illegal way."

"That has to be Gabe's decision. I can't make that for him."

"Of course," Barry replied. "We'll ask him when he wakes up."

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 _ **A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think!**_


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